Scam claims false affiliation with local school
districts;
District officials warn residents to be suspicious if approached

Sept. 15, 2011—In recent months, there has been an
ongoing scam throughout New York State which leads community residents and
local businesses to believe they are donating money to school district
athletics programs when in fact, they are being duped.

Through the scam, a company, which has gone by the names Signature Sports
and Sports Media, tells residents it is printing sports calendars or posters
and offers individuals or businesses the opportunity to sponsor school
district athletic programs.

While we do not know of any Guilderland Central School District residents
affected by this scam, it has affected residents in several neighboring
school districts this summer and so we felt it important to let you know
that neither GCSD nor the High School Athletics Department has any
affiliation or contract with any such vendor.

The company operates by soliciting and setting up direct charges to the
sponsor’s bank account, and then debits or charges these accounts annually.
According to local police, the company generates billing statements that
appear to be legitimate to the consumer because they feature the name of the
local school district. The invoice, however, has fine print on the bottom
indicating it is not affiliated with any school district.

If you are approached to donate money in this manner, be suspicious.
School district officials will never ask for
credit card or banking information from district residents for any
legitimate school-sponsored fundraisers.

If you have been targeted as part of this scam or are contacted by these
vendors in the future, consider visiting the New York State Attorney
General’s Complaint Resource Center where you can file a consumer complaint
if you believe a business is acting fraudulently or deceptively. The
Complaint Resource Center can be found here:
http://www.ag.ny.gov/resource_center/complaints/complaints.html.